Below is a recently published study on fructose-sugar consumption with the link to other studies that are in the U.S. Library of Medicine in brackets at the end. (For more information on sugar consumption go to this post: https://sugaraholics.com/2011/07/13/sugar-is-ravaging-our-population/)

This is, by the way, a very large study.  For all that the closing comments say that the consumption of the sugar fructose–to the tune of over a third of sugar consumed–cannot be conclusively linked to metabolic syndrome, etc., this is the nature of scientific studies to say what they learned without claiming too much since that is practically impossible in humans anyway. It took decades of suits to finally condemn cigarettes as cancer causing simply because there was no way to absolutely prove that the people did not have some predisposition for lung cancer since there are some few people who get lung cancer who never smoked. Despite the fact that lung cancer went from being a very rare occurrence to one of the major diseases as smoking increased. But people knew smoking was bad without a study; it was clear to anyone who did smoke that sucking super-heated smoke into your lungs wasn’t a good idea, and that nicotine is highly addictive.

So, as I read the study, the main point is that humans who for most of our human history got a very small amount of refined sugars or starches (and no artificial sweeteners!), are now consuming over a third of calories in sugars. And—they are looking purely at the sugar fructose, not the other sugars and carbohydrates like grains that are sugar in the body.

If I take a look at my diet from my 20s, I know that I would have fit neatly into this study, the difference being that HFCS was just then being introduced and not the ubiquitous additive it is now. While I was still a normal weight, I was paving the road to eventually getting overweight and developing hypoglycemia and insulin resistance. Thank goodness I learned about Atkins or I have no doubt that by now I would have been diabetic.  I ate cereal with milk aka sugar with sugar, lots of bread aka sugar, French fries aka sugar, lots of burgers aka mostly sugar and protein, daily desserts, usually cookies, cakes, pies aka fat and sugar—and more, with sugar nearly always prominently in the meals. The only bad habit I didn’t have was soda, mainly because I didn’t get it much growing up and didn’t develop a strong liking for it. When I got into my 30s-40s it was the “heart healthy” whole grains much promoted by Jane Brody, et al, which meant that I ate even more sugars as grains, but with a lot less fat and protein—turns out as Gary Taubes has so beautifully shown us to have been a very bad idea.

If you haven’t already done so it might be a good idea to think about how much sugar you did eat or still eat, or how much your children are consuming. We didn’t get into this obesity epidemic with eating habits that are good; we got here with an ever increasing amount of sugars in virtually all our foods.

Yours in learning,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Food Chem Toxicol. 2011 Aug 25. [Epub ahead of print]

Fructose and non-fructose sugar intakes in the US population and their associations with indicators of metabolic syndrome.

Sun SZ, Anderson GH, Flickinger BD, Williamson-Hughes PS, Empie MW.

Source

Office of Compliance and Ethics, Archer Daniels Midland Company, 1001 North Brush College Road, Decatur, IL 62521, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Relationships of sugar intakes with indicators of metabolic syndrome are important concerns for public health and safety. For individuals, dietary intake data for fructose and other sugars are limited.

METHOD:

Descriptive statistics. The data from 25,506 subjects, aged 12-80yr, contained in the NHANES 1999-2006 databases were analyzed for sugar intakes and health parameters.

RESULTS:

Dietary fructose was almost always consumed with other sugars. On average, fructose provided 37% of total simple sugar intake and 9% of energy intake. In more than 97% of individuals studied, fructose caloric contribution was lower than that of non-fructose sugars. Fructose and non-fructose sugar intakes had no positive association with blood concentrations of TG, HDL cholesterol, glycohemoglobin, uric acid, blood pressure, waist circumference, and BMI in the adults studied (aged 19 to 80yr, n=17,749).

CONCLUSION:Daily fructose intakes with the American diet averaged approximately 37% of total sugars and 9% of daily energy. Fructose was rarely consumed solely or in excess over non-fructose sugars. Fructose and non-fructose sugar ordinary consumption was not positively associated with indicators of metabolic syndrome, uric acid and BMI. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21889564]

Sugar is Ravaging our Population

Tba

Stress has been written about extensively as one of the major causes of illness and it is also one of the major causes of sugar cravings, and over-eating in general, since when we have a lot of stress our bodies are telling us to give some relief. Relief can be rest, something many of us don’t get enough of, or it can be in heightened cravings for food, especially sweets and starches that give us a quick lift in energy.  Dopamine seems to be the key, for it rises or falls accordingly as we have more or less stress, be it real or perceived.

I live on the east coast and recently we had to deal with the ravages of Hurricane Irene; while we are about twenty five miles from the shore, just the concern over high winds, downed trees, etc, created quite a lot of stress.  In my area power was off for two days, and for thousands is still off, which means a whole host of problems like inability to cook, keep food in freezers from melting, etc. I’m in the country, on a well, so no water. Fortunately, with the good forecasting, we filled our tubs with water and could handle most household concerns.

Stress, both real and self-imposed, is a major problem for those who are sugaraholics, for all people under stress have to deal with problems of one sort or another. Sleep is a major, since it often goes out the door with high stress; anger management is another effect; increased anxiety is the one that usually leads to our desire for comfort foods.

The long and short of it is to recognize if you are under unusual stress. One confounding issue is that stress can be caused by the very same things identified as symptoms, so a person can get in a self-perpetuating cycle of stress related symptoms.  Lack of sleep stresses the body which causes the body to react by further inhibiting sleep; a real catch-22.

If you find yourself repeatedly giving in to cravings, look to what may be stressing in your life. Deal with that, and often the cravings will go away.  I’m still working on this one myself, since like many people I’m a past master of worrying about this and that, regardless of my ability to change things. I try to meditate and find time to get away to myself, and recommend this to anyone who is experiencing a lot of stress. A walk, listening to music, engaging in a hobby, and so on; these are all great stress relievers.

Just remember, that eating sugar-starch-artificial sweeteners will only increase your stress since most of us immediately have guilt over such responsive eating episode.

Working the plan and believe the plan will work for me.

Yours,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

My summer is proving to be very busy and I am not as diligent with this blog, but then I note all my favorite blogs seem to be in the same boat. We are in summer mode, a generally carefree time when we enjoy the great, warm weather; when we get out to go to visit the local sites, the beach, or visit family and friends we don’t see during the school year, and so forth. I know my life functions around the school year calendar even though my children are grown, for that is how most of our society operates. Summer is high season for doing all the things we can’t once the school year begins; which affects not only those with children, but those of us without children or whose children have officially fledged.

What with vacations, quick trips here and there, the summer becomes both busy and challenging to those of us sugaraholics who struggle with all the obvious and hidden sugars to be found in the summertime foods. Fruit tends to be a big challenge for me since fruit we were told ad nauseum is good for you. But for those whose hypothalamus goes into high gear at any kind of sugar, too much fruit can upset the best laid plans of even the best of dieters.  Desserts proliferate in all seasons, but the summer heat brings out the trickier sort, like ice cream, which, though good if homemade or of a very low sugar variety like the So Delicious coconut milk kind, can still upset the balance and cause a lot of cravings.

The heat is also a factor for many since it can be enervating, and when we are in a low mood we are always more vulnerable; which is also part of the problem with alcohol.  That cooling lite beer, gin and tonic, chilled white wine, or scotch and soda lowers our mood and makes us more susceptible to indulgences we will soon regret.

My best strategy is to accept that I will sometimes want my long time favorite ice cream, so instead of trying to banish the thoughts of it, I envision getting it, enjoying it for the few moments, then—and this is the critical point—imagining how I will feel after I eat it, for I always feel the same, unhappy, bad experience after I eat what I know will give me even more cravings, and interfere with my goal to lose and keep off excess fat.

The summertime blues can be episodic or for other reasons be a regular phenomenon, but it need not keep us from abiding by our desire to not give in to the foods that we know will only make us blue-er still.  This is the best of times to get out for a quick walk, a bike ride, an afternoon at the park, etc. Take advantage of the options the summer affords, and remember: You will never regret a sugary food you do not eat.

Off for a walk………

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Food asceticism is among rising tide of ideas about how to be free of the sugar-starch-artificial sweetener demons. Food asceticism develops out of the notion that our taste buds are in effect being overly stimulated by the high level of tastiness; so, we are being unnaturally clued to over-eat in a way primitive humans would not. Let’s face it, raw or poorly cooked meat that is unseasoned with so much as salt, and roots and berries that were very low in starch or sugar compared to foods we eat nowadays, would not have been nearly as stimulating to the primitive region of the brain that governs cravings.  Of course, to them it would have been tasty no doubt, but the triggers would have been far less excited compared to our modern brains. We who have been on a steady diet of highly sweetened and seasoned foods since before birth now have a high need for those stronger, deeper tastes.

The idea then behind food asceticism is to limit the strong seasonings and flavors to retrain the brain. When I first thought about this I wanted to reject it, but as I considered this idea further, I realized that I certainly don’t crave many sweet or starchy foods, or plain sugar water–though if we keep taking in such a substance we will learn to like it according to Cornell food scientist and author of Mindless Eating, Professor Brian Wansink. Still the thought of eating something with low flavor is not appealing. I have a friend, by way of contrast, who likes what I consider very bland foods compared to the spicy, rich flavors I’ve always enjoyed. Still, for most of us, meat without salt is pretty bland, as are most vegetables, and many foods would not be so appealing without their load of salt, spices, sugar, sweeteners.

Food asceticism is about deliberately toning down the number of foods one eats, and the savory-sweet-sour-hot-unami type flavorings or tastes.  I have decided to work on this for a while, since I still have a few pounds I’d like to lose—thanks to a couple weeks of vacation!—and do believe the simplicity of a few basic foods, lightly seasoned might have merit.

If you, like me, have always counted on highly flavored foods, you might want to consider this to help lose some weight.  I see this as a temporary goal, for food should be enjoyed, but if I can learn to enjoy my food with a bit less of the strong flavors so much the better.

The way I understand it, we will crave less if the food is less strongly flavored. Whether this is true I don’t know, but it does have the ring of truth about it. Consider the foods you most want when you have binged. Chances are good that you think of the flavor more than the texture, though some textures are appealing. Some people love smooth and creamy foods, while others like crunchy, sharp foods (this is me).  I think of brownies with walnuts, one of my long time favorite sweet foods, but I never liked brownies without walnuts since that seemed to be a “weaker” taste, and I liked the crunch of the nuts. So I’m making a list of my former favorite binge foods and making notes of what made them so appealing to me. Also, this relates to how we combine foods; I never wanted Oreos unless I had a glass of milk. So was I craving the milk or the Oreos? My belief is that the milk was a kind of transport for the Oreos, and enhanced their flavor. Of course, the milk also doubled the sugar load!

I would love to hear your thoughts on how you view flavors and the idea of food asceticism as a tool to break addiction to sugar-starch-artificial sweeteners.

Yours in search for answers,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

Blog post 7/6/11 (somehow deleted this, so reposting)

When President Roosevelt developed what was then known as Infantile Paralysis, or polio, there was a lot of attention drawn to what was a widespread disease, and many researchers devoted untold hours to finding a cure for that terrible disease which caused varying levels of paralysis in mostly children. Jonas Salk was the physician researcher came up with the vaccine that many children remember being inoculated with in the 1950s.

This came to mind when a friend of my spouse who is morbidly obese was arguing with my lean spouse who does primal/paleo eating as I do. While my spouse is not the sugaraholic I am, he knows that he will begin to want those foods if he starts eating them, and he lost more than thirty-five pounds getting off the sugars, starches, artificial sweeteners along with me. His friend, I’ll call him Bob, believes in the calories-in-calories-out false theory, about what causes weight gain or loss, so well debunked by Gary Taubes in Good Calories, Bad Calories and Why We Get Fat, along with Mark Sisson, Mark Harris, and many others. Why does Bob hold on to what so clearly fails for him time and again; he is a Weight Watchers rerun. Having heard for years what he orders at their weekly breakfast meeting tells me that he can’t let go of his childhood food loves.

Bob is convinced, for this is what he wants to believe, that pancakes, fruit, bread, and all manner of high starch and sugar foods are fine as long as he eats egg substitutes and avoids fats. He has a kind of infantile paralysis that does not let him move forward. He doesn’t want to read or hear anything that will change his mind, though he weighs nearly 300lbs on a 5’10” frame.

The sad part that is most bothersome for me in this is that when polio was raging through the country, no amount of money or resources was held back in order to find a cure. Now, though, when diabetes has doubled world wide since 1980, we find there is very little money for research on various foods or diets that is not being provided by the big food conglomerates who only accept what supports their ends. Very little independent money is available to researchers to get anything like independent results. We need to get past this fund crunch, for it was mostly American tax dollars that found cures like polio, smallpox, antibiotics like penicillin, etc. Our health care system is being heavily burdened by the diseases of over-weight and diabetes, and something will eventually have to give.

I have my areas of infantile paralysis, too, but they have more to do with liking fire flies, and watching reruns of Bewitched. Food is something we should remember is medicine, fuel, and not just comfort. However, while I no longer eat the foods I once thought of as childhood comfort foods, I now know that what I eat is truly good for me, and that is its own mature kind of comfort.

Ever learning,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

I’ve been on vacation with family to the beach and found it all too easy to give in to sweets others had, and paid for it.  My sleep was shot for most of the time, and I felt joint pains I thought were history.  I was talking with my husband today, after we got home, about why we did what we knew we would regret.  We concluded that 1) just this once, is a lie, and will lead most of us down the garden path of much more, 2) having food around you don’t at home makes the temptation quotient far higher, 3) the addictive properties of sugar, starch, artificial sweeteners do not go away after you quit eating them, at least not for a long time (In Life Without Bread, Lutz and Allan, noted that after about 12-18 months of no sugar, people would cease to want it.), so if you start, you get sucked it quickly.  I remember a line from diet guru Stephen Gullo, who had this mantra: If I don’t begin, I don’t have a problem.  He talked as well about the F-Q Principle, which I believe I’ve mentioned before, that states that you may leave certain foods alone for a long time, but if you start up again, then soon the frequency, then the quantity will increase. Believe me, I have lived out the F-Q Principle many times,  including just last week.

Today we are back on track, our vacation family members have gone home, so we can get back to our healthy, no sugar-starch-faux sweeteners routine.  A slip is disheartening, but it is something to learn from. I am disappointed that I let myself cave to carrot cake, but that is not a reason not to keep working at my goals to stay sugar-sober.  With some hard work and luck, I won’t have to report further struggles for a good long while. I would like to say never,  but while I live in hope, I also know that the possibility exists.

Like I heard years ago it’s not what you do 20 days a year, it’s what you do the other 345 days of the year;  I now have high hopes for the grand total of sugar sober days.

I have a nice tan! And, I enjoyed time with family.  So there is almost always a great take away from vacation.

Working on my remaining days for this year, and will keep chanting: If I don’t begin, I don’t have a problem.

Yours in the struggle,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

In working to find ways to help deal with the challenging task of becoming sugar sober, or low carb, it can be very helpful to make yourself a recording to listen to night and morning until you reach your goal. I have done this for any number of things over the years when I felt particularly challenged, and needed to more deeply integrate the thoughts into the deeper mind.

Such devices are old tricks. The military during World War II used records played during the recruits sleep to help solidify their language skills learned during the day. And, in the 1970s a whole realm of self-help and how to succeed tapes were sold. Did they work? Depends on who you ask. Like any tool, recordings are only as good as the consistency of use. So playing a recording a few nights won’t likely help with a big problem like weight loss, or language acquisition.

To make a recording it helps to make a list of thoughts you want to include, so write down all the things that you think matter to you. Then find a quiet time and place, maybe play some meditative instrumental music in the background, then begin by imagining you are talking to yourself or to someone else. Don’t worry if you make a few mistakes, you can always re-record if they bother you, but chances are they won’t.  I find five to ten minutes is long enough, for on my iPod Touch, which I listen to at night, I can set a recording to replay continuously. But even without this asset, you don’t need a long recording, you just need to be faithful to listen to it morning and evening.

Within two or three weeks–even sooner for many– you will notice how improved your behaviors have become; for example, not snacking will start to feel natural.

Even if you can’t make a recording, the act of writing down your hopes, wishes, what it is you want to change has a similar effect. Writing is often called “brain writing” because the very act of forming the thoughts, then writing them out, has been shown to have powerful affect on the brain. It is a kind of two way street where what comes out goes back in, through writing.

I would love to hear about any such tricks you’ve used successfully.

Trying all the means at one’s disposal,

Nan aka Sugarbaby

We have been told that diabetes has doubled worldwide since 1980, we know the sales of high sugar, starch, and artificial sweeteners have so impacted our national palate that even little children, once practically immune from over weight, are now obese in great numbers and Type 2 diabetes is being found in children not yet teens. Boys and girls who once left high school lean as they ever would be, now often are obese, and if lean have the tell-tale pot belly that comes with over consumption of refined carbohydrates.

Just recently read the following, and checked out at the government’s website:

Annual refined sugar consumption in the United States: 1750: 4 pounds per person, per year 1850: 20 pounds per person, per year 1994: 120 pounds per person, per year 1996: 160 pounds per person, per year According to the USDA’s Economic Research Service (www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FoodConsumption), global sugar consumption continues to increase by about 2 percent per annum, and in 2006 and 2007 was expected to reach almost 154 million tons. Note: This does not include the use of other industrial sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup! High fructose corn syrup is now estimated to be the number-one source of calories in the American diet! Increases in obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes correlate almost perfectly with the introduction of HFCS nearly thirty years ago. The average person is consuming 1/3 of a pound of sugar each and every day, which is 5 ounces or 150 grams— half of which is fructose (sucrose is made up half and half of glucose and fructose). This is roughly 300 percent more than the amount that can trigger biochemical chaos.

Gedgaudas, Nora T. (2011). Primal Body, Primal Mind: Beyond the Paleo Diet for Total Health and a Longer Life (p. 122). Healing Arts Press. Kindle Edition.